


His Brother

by merlypops



Category: Chaos Walking - Patrick Ness
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Brotherly Love, Brothers, DAVY LET ME LIVE, Gun Violence, I just made myself cry a lot, Major Character Injury, Near Death, apart from one character but he sucks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-05
Updated: 2016-05-05
Packaged: 2018-06-06 12:59:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6754957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merlypops/pseuds/merlypops
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Just get us a first aid kit! Do it quick, Ivan, or we’re gonna lose him,” Todd snaps but his Noise says <b>I <i>can’t</i> lose him</b>.<br/><b><i>Todd, it’s okay</i></b>, I think but the light hurts my eyes when I force them open and I feel like I’m not blinking enough. Even my Noise is weak now, fluttering and ebbing as Viola works over me and Todd holds me tighter.<br/>"Yer gonna be okay, Davy," Todd promises tearfully, sniffing hard. "Ye've gotta be."</p><p>
  <b>Todd saves Davy.</b>
</p><p>Set during "The Ask And The Answer".</p>
            </blockquote>





	His Brother

**Author's Note:**

> **CAUTION:** There are big spoilers throughout this fic for "The Ask And The Answer" by Patrick Ness so you have been warned!
> 
> Basically, I just read the chapter where Davy got shot and it hurt so much that I decided to just rewrite it. I loved him a lot towards the end so now I'm just really emotional.  
> Also I've totally never written a fic for the Chaos Walking series before but I hope this feels like it's in character.

**_Todd? Todd, please –_ **

My Noise is embarrassing to listen to, all blue and sad and hopeless. The fear in it is palpable, like a storm cloud hanging in the air over my head as I lay there on the rubble-strewn floor of the cathedral, head pillowed in Todd’s lap – in my _brother’s_ lap.

There are tears running down his face and his Noise is red and black and blue and everything in between, the colour of bruises and sunsets and blood and fear and anger and rage and… and pain. _Love_ almost… ‘cause he loves me… his brother.

**_Please, Todd –_ **

I can still see myself shooting Ben in the chest, watching him crumple down into the bushes. I can see it reflected back at me in the tears in Todd’s eyes but he’s still holding me tight, still whispering to me, repeating my name over and over again, like it’s the only thing that matters now.

His Noise is a mess of **DavyViolaDavyViolaBenCillianDavyBenViolaViolaDavyDavyDavy** and it’s making my breath catch in my throat, even as the blood chokes me.

Pa’s still standing nearby, face pale and set and determined. **_He don’t want me_** , I think and my Noise is aching at the pain of it as Todd’s hand flutters uselessly over my forehead, his soft eyes burning into mine.

Pa’s holding Viola up tightly, the butt of the rifle smoking as he points it at Todd instead. My heart is racing in my chest now and I want to let go – I can feel it in my Noise; a growing darkness that promises an end to all of the pain I can feel – but Todd won’t let me.

“You shot him!” Viola’s shouting and her voice is breaking as the tears burn hot down her cheeks. I think of myself shooting her too and Todd’s fingers bite into my arm but he don’t let me go; just keeps stroking my hair back and crying as his free hand presses down hard over the gunshot. “You shot yer own son!”

Pa’s eyes look empty when he gazes down at me and I choke a little, blood trickling from the corner of my mouth as I draw in a ragged gasp. I picture Ma in my Noise for a moment; see her blonde hair and her kind green eyes and the way she disappeared one day… the things the men of Prentisstown must’ve done to her.

There’s movement in the archway behind Pa, a lurching stumble like someone or something’s injured. There’s a small clatter as rubble gets kicked across the floor by their boot and instinctively I know that I can’t let Pa see them. If he does then he’ll –

My chest throbs agonisingly and I’m calling out in pain before I can stop myself, my Noise red now ‘cause Pa shot me. He shot his own effing _son_ ‘cause… ‘cause he’d rather have Todd instead of me… and this is hurting me so bad to think about this but I can’t _help_ it ‘cause it’s keeping Pa distracted as he stares at me silently… no Noise at all; not even losing control now.

**_Todd, I can’t –_ **

Todd’s shoulders are heaving with sobs but he’s pressing down on my chest with both hands now, making me writhe weakly in pain like a fish that’s been gutted. My eyes are prickling with tears and dust from the explosion earlier, and the roar of the scout ship landing on the hill is still ringing in my ears.

The shadows behind Pa flicker again and Todd sees it in my Noise, jerking his head up to stare in shock.

 **Lee** , Todd thinks with wide eyes. Viola follows his gaze and Pa stiffens but it’s already too late for him ‘cause the soldier with the shaggy blond hair is holding a pistol – **Viola’s pistol** , Todd thinks in shock – and the end is smoking and Pa’s knees are hitting the dusty floor as blood drips down from the hole in his forehead and… and…

**DAVY!**

Todd’s shouting with his voice _and_ his Noise now, desperation spilling from him in a rush that sends Viola tumbling down onto her knees nearby, her hands shaking as they tear at the front of my tunic.

 **Healer** , Todd thinks with something like relief. **She used to be a healer.**

“Not a very good one,” Viola says grimly, clearly listening in on Todd’s Noise as I lay there bleeding out on the stones. “But it looks like he missed all the important bits. We just have to stop the bleeding before…” Her voice is thick and wet, and I think about myself pulling the trigger… think about myself _shooting_ her and how sorry I am now… how awful I feel now that I know what she’s like from listening to Todd’s Noise every day for months.

 ** _I’m sorry_** , I think and her flinty eyes go tear-wet as Lee falls down beside her, staring down at me in shock.

Todd stills under me suddenly, head jerking up into the doorway as someone else appears there. It’s a Private – the one who kept trying to talk to Todd for weeks now – but Todd’s Noise is thrumming with uncertainty and fear and _panic_ ‘cause, even after all this, I’m still bleeding.

“Ivan?!” Todd demands. “Ivan, please, yer his last chance! Ye have to help him!”

“He’s the president’s boy! I ain’t helping him for nothin’!” Ivan shouts and I close my eyes ‘cause this is it. One last chance and it’s slipping through my fingers like the blood spilling down my chest.

“Ivan, stop!” Todd shouts and there’s something steely in his voice that makes Ivan stand up a little straighter. “Ye listened to me earlier, didn’t ye? ‘Cause I’m yer superior officer! I’m an effing _Lieutenant_! Are ye still gonna follow a direct order before the armies get here or are ye –”

Ivan’s shoulders slump – I can see it in Todd’s Noise but I can’t open my eyes anymore ‘cause they’re too heavy… and I don’t wanna see Pa lying slumped nearby, a pool of his own blood spreading out to mingle with mine on the dusty ground.

“What do ye want me to do? ‘Cause I ain’t giving the little wretch mouth-to-mouth,” Ivan mutters spitefully, and Todd’s Noise is a colourful mixture of fury and frustration and relief.

“Just get us a first aid kit! Do it quick, Ivan, or we’re gonna lose him,” Todd snaps but his Noise says **I _can’t_ lose him**.

 ** _Todd, it’s okay_** , I think but the light hurts my eyes when I force them open and I feel like I’m not blinking enough. Even my Noise is weak now, fluttering and ebbing as Viola works over me and Todd holds me tighter.

"Yer gonna be okay, Davy," Todd promises tearfully, sniffing hard. "Ye've gotta be."

Ivan comes back real quick with the kit and then he stands there with Lee, staring down at the blood spreading out in front of him with distaste as we hear a dull **_BOOM_** as something that sounds a lot like another Thrace bomb goes off. Viola flinches but she focuses on getting the bandages out of the kit, her hands slippery with my blood as she presses them down firmly over my chest.

I can feel the painkillers start to work almost immediately and my Noise calms at the cool feeling as the blood flow lessens. Todd’s Noise is calmer now too, more relaxed like blue skies and river water lapping and a place behind a waterfall that I ain’t never seen before now… a place he shares with Viola.

“Davy, yer gonna be okay,” Todd promises and the tears in his eyes are falling now but he’s smiling the tiniest bit, like maybe everything’s gonna be alright. “Yer okay, brother. I promise.”

 _ **Boy colt?**_ It’s Todd’s horse Angharrad, whinnying through the door as she stamps on the cobbles outside. It seems to spur Todd into action though ‘cause he whips his head round in surprise before he’s looking back at me, one bloodied hand grasping Viola’s as the other shakes me gently so that I wake up from the painless stupor I’m sinking into.

“Is Deadfall in the stables?” Todd’s asking me frantically. “Davy, please. You’ve gotta tell us. We need to get you and Vi somewhere safe, okay? C’mon now, Davy, please.”

 ** _He’s called Acorn_** , I think but the painkillers in the bandages are making me sleepy now and the lack of pain is making me feel like I’m floating on a cloud.

“Davy, where’s Acorn?” he asks in a much softer voice. “Is he in the stables?” and I manage a faint nod, just a jerk of my head before it lolls to the side as the agony in my chest starts to dull.

“C’mon,” Todd orders, his face half cast in shadow, his eyes piercing. He looks like a real leader now; like the leader New Prentisstown _shoulda_ had… or Haven.

Maybe Pa was right. Maybe Todd _is_ the best choice for us.

“Don’t think like that now, Davy,” Todd says softly but his eyes still look shiny with tears beneath the adrenaline and the dust and the dried blood speckled on his face. “Now c’mon, everyone!” Todd’s raising his voice, standing up in his torn uniform with that effing silver A emblazoned on the shoulder. “We gotta get out of here. Ivan, can ye bring Acorn from the stables? And yer horse too?”

“I ain’t got a horse, Todd, but I’ll do my best,” Ivan promises as Lee appears beside Viola, helping her up where her ankles are twisted and bruised. Todd helps me up into a sitting position and I slump against him, eyes falling shut against the image my Pa paints in my head where he’s lying on the ground… haunting me even now.

“Yer gonna be okay, Davy,” Todd whispers and his voice is thick again, his Noise soothing like when he talks to Angharrad… like I’m some frightened animal he’s gotta keep calm. I want to be offended but it’s working; it’s making me relax back against him as the blood stops falling and the bandages finally begin to do their work.

“Ivan’s coming back with the horses now, Davy,” Todd says and it might’ve been thirty seconds or it might’ve been three hours. I can’t tell with the fog of drugs clouding my head but I’m sleepy and I feel safer, more comfortable than I ever did sleeping above the stables… ‘cause my Pa didn’t love me enough.

 **He didn’t know what he was missing** , Todd’s Noise is saying over and over, all soothing and calming like rainwater washing away the blood.

“Yer gonna have to ride with me on Acorn, Davy, okay?” Todd’s saying in his soft voice. “Vi, ye ride with Lee on Angharrad.”

 ** _Boy colt_** , she thinks. _**Todd?**_

“Angharrad,” Todd says softly but he’s rising now and Ivan’s lifting me up like I weigh nothing, the dull spike of pain this causes making my eyes flutter for a moment but it’s too hard to stay awake now. “Ye pass him up to me, Ivan, alright?” Todd checks and the Private does as he says, lifting me up in front of Todd so that I don’t fall off Angharrad’s back.

Nearby, Lee and Viola are doing much the same thing, and then Ivan’s mounting his own horse ( ** _Submit!_** Acorn thinks nervously) and the clatter of hooves and the distant **_ROAR_** of New Prentisstown is all I can hear for a moment… just that and Todd’s heartbeat where my ear’s pressed against his chest.

“Todd,” I say in a small voice, quiet and feeble like I’m just a boy again. Todd’s arm winds tighter around my waist and he keeps me upright, leaning me back against him on Acorn’s back as Viola and Lee ride along beside us on Angharrad, spurring her faster.

 ** _Boy colt_** , she thinks. **_Hurt?_**

“He’ll be alright, Angharrad. We all will,” Todd murmurs softly, repeating it in his Noise too… over and over ‘til it’s all I can think about.

 ** _We’ll be alright_** , I repeat and we’re leaving the city behind us now, avoiding the armies and the fighting and the scout ship as we clatter out onto the road, moving so fast that the horses’ hooves are striking sparks on the cobbles.

 ** _I'm sorry I called ye pigpiss_** , I think and Todd smiles tight, like he's fighting not to cry.

 **I'm sorry for a lot of things** , Todd thinks but he's still holding me close and I don't care about any of it anymore.

In Todd’s Noise I can see him planning for the future – us leaving here in a cart with someone called Wilf, us being healed by the Mistresses at the Answer while Todd goes to meet the scout ship, us sneaking away once we’re better and greeting the whole settler ship… and us overthrowing New Prentisstown maybe… ‘cause Pa was the president and now he’s dead… so maybe Todd can take his place. Maybe Todd’s the leader this place needs.

I don’t think I’d mind a bit.

Todd saved my life and he ain’t killed no one. Not ever.

Todd’s my brother.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> Please let me know what you guys thought by leaving comments and kudos :)


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